Help! $300 for a new trans

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I'm going to throw ONE more thing at you that's REALLY nice and a reason to have more channels, REGARDLESS of which transmitter you go with (I'm partial to the Spektrums, myself).

With having separate ailerons that are not operating on a Y-cable, you can use sub trim to get the ailerons much more accurately aligned for starting positions. You can't really do that with the Y-cable, because it'll adjust one side up and the other side down incrementally.

In addition, you can set up flaperons if you so wish. :)

This is why I go with at LEAST 6 channels on most of my planes now, as opposed to 4, unless I'm doing something like a Nutball or a Simple Soarer where it's just using elevator/rudder and maybe throttle, or a Versa Wing, where it's left aileron/right aileron/throttle, and the ailerons are being mixed as elevons. I dunno how cheap the FrSky 6 chan receivers are, but I know the Lemon and Orange DSMX receivers are like, $10-$15/ea, depending on whether you want diversity antennas on them or not.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
My preferred hobby shop sells FrSky 6-channel receivers for ~$27-$28. These would be the X6R ($27.25) and RX6R ($28.25).

The only difference between the two is that the RX-series is an improved version of the X-series and boasts a 40% improvement on range. All other features are the same between the two series. The X/RX series FrSky receivers all have RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) and Telemetry support.
 

jaredstrees

Well-known member
I have a QX7 and for the most part love it. There is a little learning curve, but so far this thing has been solid. I am years away from needing a radio that does some of the stuff the more advanced pilots do, but I know this thing will grow with me for a while. The only downside I can see to a Taranis versus a spectrum is the bind and fly if you want something Horizon Hobby. I have a module on the way that should take care of that issue as well. For me, it was $100 on the radio and I can get lots of receivers, or $250 and only a couple receivers. I know there are cheap lemon or lime or whatever out there, but the frsky receivers are also pretty cheap ( I haven't seen them for $7, but they aren't as pricey as original spectrums). In the end it's your call. If you want to be able to customize your radio experience, go Taranis, if that doesn't matter to you either radio is a fine choice.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
Another common piece of advice on selecting a radio. If you belong to an RC club/group in your area, or there is an RC park you frequent, you might want to see what the majority of the pilots use. The advantage is that they can help you in person get the radio setup for whatever you want to do.

If you don't have a local group, then this doesn't matter.
 

Bricks

Master member
It is always a hoot when first starting in the hobby, so many decision`s that will affect how your experience in the hobby plays out. The longer one is at it you find some of the decisions that were made in the beginning come back to bite you in the a-- and cost yea more money in the long run.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
It is always a hoot when first starting in the hobby, so many decision`s that will affect how your experience in the hobby plays out. The longer one is at it you find some of the decisions that were made in the beginning come back to bite you in the a-- and cost yea more money in the long run.

Amen to this, been there, done this and will probably do it again! :LOL:
 

evranch

Well-known member
Taranis X9D+ SE was my choice, $250USD and you get an excellent pair of Hall effect gimbals when you buy the SE... you aren't getting those at this price point anywhere else. This is a premium transmitter at a budget price.

You can mount a multiprotocol module in your Taranis and bind it to whatever RX you can scrape up for cheap, which opens the door to all sorts of cheap modules like the HK Lemons. Some will even bind to cheap quads and RTF planes. Personally I just use FrSky RXs because I have a R9 module pretty much permanently mounted in mine.

You also have the option to do a lot in the future with modules with the Taranis, R9 long range, TBS long range, OpenLRS 433MHz...
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Oh, and one other piece of advice I will give:

If you can hold the transmitter before buying it, DO SO. I have an old Hitec transmitter that came with this Piccolo helicopter I bought a long time ago. That receiver had the WORST feel. There were switches on it that I couldn't reach properly without taking my hands off the sticks, and it was just really uncomfortable.

There's been some newer controllers which I've seen that are modeled after game controllers. They might look perfect for kids; however, when I tried them in my hands, they didn't feel comfortable at all. Ergonomics is a personal thing, as far as I'm concerned, but if you are the type of person who is going to be flying for an hour or two, off and on at the field, get a radio that feels good in your hands.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
You can also get FrSky hall effect gimbals as standard in the QX7S for $190 or you can buy the M7 hall effect gimbals separately for less than $20 each and upgrade a $100 QX7.

Both the QX7 and the X9D accept the same Tx modules.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
I have added the X9D+SE and QX7S models to the spreadsheet as well as added a row for gimbal type. Currently I only have the gimbal type fields populated for the Taranis radios as Spektrum doesn't seem to openly publish what kind of gimbals they use for their radios.
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
@buzzbomb - here is a view link to the spreadsheet I have started. It's past the time I should be asleep so I'll work on this more tomorrow.

Transmitter Comparison Sheet

Let me know if there are certain criteria that are important for you and I will add it to the sheet. This is at least a start.
WOW! Talk about laying it all out! That's beautiful. If it's just a start, it's a darn good start! (y) Thank you for putting that together.

It's going to take me a while to digest it. If there is anything you feel should be added, just add it. Honestly your judgement is probably better than mine, anyway. I'm just as liable to add "Has Lanyard Connection Point. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes." as I am to find something useful. :LOL:

Thank you again! :love:
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
OK. Spreadsheet digested. Everyone thank you. We've got so many threads on buying an inexpensive, first transmitter, because that's where we all start. Now we've got one for when someone is ready to upgrade. It's turned out to not only be a thread about upgrading a trans, but a darn-good thread about upgrading a trans! I only asked the question. It's ya'll that made this thread such a great resource. Thank you.

Mad_Mechanic! You have gone above and beyond, sir! A bow from the waist from me and three thumbs up! (y)(y)(y)(y) (Oh. That's four. You've earned it! :love:)

Spreadsheet digested, the Taranis X9D Plus SE wins hands down. It's got everything the other's do, plus Hall Effect gimbals, voice alerts, it goes on. The only real difference between it and the Taranis Q X7S is the screen size. For my tired eyes, it's worth the extra cash for the bigger screen, and it is still within my budget.

The decision is made. Shopping commences! :) Really, thank you everyone. There is no way in heck I would have landed on this transmitter without your help. Mad_Mechanic, I hope you are willing to update your spreadsheet as new transmitters come out. This thread has become an awesome resource, and we'd be able to point at it for a long time to come.
 

Mad_Mechanic

Well-known member
Glad my spreadsheet helped! There are a lot of transmitters out there I can add to the spreadsheet and I figure it helps people see information in one place.
 

buzzbomb

I know nothing!
@buzzbomb - here is a view link to the spreadsheet I have started. It's past the time I should be asleep so I'll work on this more tomorrow.

Transmitter Comparison Sheet

Let me know if there are certain criteria that are important for you and I will add it to the sheet. This is at least a start.
What might be helpful is the protocol. Now that I've picked a trans, I've got pick the receiver. I would suggest adding the protocol so that the family can bounce back and forth between the spreadsheet and the receivers they are looking at.
 

Chuppster

Well-known member
What might be helpful is the protocol. Now that I've picked a trans, I've got pick the receiver. I would suggest adding the protocol so that the family can bounce back and forth between the spreadsheet and the receivers they are looking at.

I'm a little late to the party, but I can't speak highly enough of my QX7. I don't think you'll regret going with a Taranis, and I even got the multi-protocol module so I can bind with just about any receiver on the market. It's amazing, for just a little more money than a FrSky receiver, I can get a module that lets me bind to $10 FlySky/Lemon rx's.
 

Chappie66

Active member
I have added the X9D+SE and QX7S models to the spreadsheet as well as added a row for gimbal type. Currently I only have the gimbal type fields populated for the Taranis radios as Spektrum doesn't seem to openly publish what kind of gimbals they use for their radios.
OK. Spreadsheet digested. Everyone thank you. We've got so many threads on buying an inexpensive, first transmitter, because that's where we all start. Now we've got one for when someone is ready to upgrade. It's turned out to not only be a thread about upgrading a trans, but a darn-good thread about upgrading a trans! I only asked the question. It's ya'll that made this thread such a great resource. Thank you.

Mad_Mechanic! You have gone above and beyond, sir! A bow from the waist from me and three thumbs up! (y)(y)(y)(y) (Oh. That's four. You've earned it! :love:)

Spreadsheet digested, the Taranis X9D Plus SE wins hands down. It's got everything the other's do, plus Hall Effect gimbals, voice alerts, it goes on. The only real difference between it and the Taranis Q X7S is the screen size. For my tired eyes, it's worth the extra cash for the bigger screen, and it is still within my budget.

The decision is made. Shopping commences! :) Really, thank you everyone. There is no way in heck I would have landed on this transmitter without your help. Mad_Mechanic, I hope you are willing to update your spreadsheet as new transmitters come out. This thread has become an awesome resource, and we'd be able to point at it for a long time to come.
I know it might not fit your plans right now, but the JR module on the Taranis plus and IRangeX IRX4 multi-module opens up an immense number of protocols...
https://www.banggood.com/IRangeX-IR...ule-With-Case-p-1225080.html?cur_warehouse=CN